As expected, Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock has appointed Lt. Gov. John Walsh to fill the remainder of Democratic Sen. Max Baucus' term. The Senate approved Baucus' appointment as Ambassador to China yesterday.Last year, Baucus announced his intention to retire at the end of this Congress, and Walsh was already running for the open seat. His appointment now affords him all the advantages of incumbency. Fundraising may be the most significant of these. Walsh finished the fourth quarter of 2013 with just $435,549 in the bank. At-Large Rep. Steve Daines, the presumptive Republican nominee, had $1.4 million cash on hand as of September 30, 2013. His fourth quarter report is not yet available. Incumbency will also boost Walsh's name identification.At the same time, there are some downsides to the appointment. Walsh has never served in a legislative body, so he will need to spend some time learning the ropes and immersing himself in the legislative process. This also means that he will now have a voting record; he has been a relatively blank slate until now. Finally, Walsh started his
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